late-night move to keep three schools open. i'm christie smith, we'll have details coming up. and this could get very busy, very quickly. trying to block a bus. and the east bay has had problems all morning. there's a cig alert and a fuel spill, which still has yet to clear. straight-up 6:00 on wednesday morning. it's feeling more like november than september out there. good morning. glad you're deciding to stick around with us. >> good morning. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm garvin thomas, in for brent cannon. >> want to get right to the forecast with rob. a little cool out there. >> it is cool out there, and some unusual sights seen on our satellite radar this morning as we widen out for you. take a look at that. this is the reason it's going to feel like november today. we've got a november-like system dropping in over the sierra. for the bay area, it's wringing out some drizzle and some spotty

light rain for your morning. as we head towards the afternoon, our temperatures not warming up a lot at all. 67 degrees, san jose. 64 in oakland, and near 60 in san francisco. we'll let you know if we're going to see any big changes for the weekend ahead as things finally try to warm up. have that if for you in a few minutes. new this morning, thousands of east bay students will be able to stay in their schools. while you were sleeping last night, the richmond city council voted to keep the doors open at three of the city's schools. nbc bay area's christie smith is live in richmond. she just spoke with a school board member and got the late-breaking details. christie? >> reporter: good morning to you. well, you know, this isn't the first time that the school board here in west contra costra county has asked the city of richmond for help. but board members are saying that they basically had no choice. their back was against the wall financially. and in the end, what we found out is the kennedy high school will stay open. the city council late last night

deciding unanimously to give $1.5 million to keep three schools open. now, $900,000 of that is going to kennedy and the district said it had lost about $39 million recently in state funding. now, one city council member brought up the point, he thought the district had been fiscally irresponsible and can't keep turning to the city as what he calls an atm. but board member charles ramsey says ultimately this is everyone's school. >> as we thank the city council, as we thank the residents and we are completely grateful and appreciative, we know that the city council will work with us to look at what potentially pools of money are out there or sources and they'll come back and we'll find a solution. >> reporter: now, the two other schools that will stay open are olinda and grant elementary. and this money actually applies to next school year. as for where it might come from, the city recently settled a utility tax lawsuit with chevron for $114 million.

one thought is some of the money to keep the schools open could be coming from that settlement money. christie smith, nbc bay area news. >> thank you very much, christie. well, just into our newsroom night now, pg&e has stored power to all its customers in the western addition customers in san francisco. over 6,000 customers lost power in the area earlier this morning. pg&e says a small pole fire at golden gate and scott streets caused that outage. well, news just in on how much a war between two silicon valley heavyweights will cost. >> scott mcgrew joins us now. scott, mark hurd was already getting tens of millions of dollars from hp to go away, so how much is he going to get from his new employer to come on over? >> oracle, right, about $1 million in salary from oracle to join the company as co-president. that's assuming a court doesn't stop hurd from doing it. hp wants a judge to stop the hire, saying hurd knows too many secrets about hp.

this morning, though, oracle says it will pay hurd $950,000 a year, and he would be eligible for a $5 million bonus, not to exceed $10 million. hurd left hp after allegations he misrepresented his expense account and had an unusual relationship with a female contract worker. hurd was the second hp ceo to leave under a cloud. he replaced carly fiorina, and then patricia dunn who left after criminal charges who were later dropped, he replaced her as well. it has been a long, strange battle, laura, for hp. >> thank you, scott. 6:04 right now. food fight. across the bay area, small businesses are taking aim at corporate supermarket chains and you could be the big winner. nbc bay area's kris sanchez live in santa clara this morning where a potential grocery war could actually get under way. good morning. >> reporter: you know, a little competition is always good for

the consumer. we always know that the more folks who are participating, the more folks, more options that folks have, the better the prices, generally, tend to be. and that is certainly going to be the case, down the road for bay area grocery shoppers. and aren't we all? this morning, in some communities there's only one store for miles, but that could soon change. the "contra costa times" is reporting this morning that new stores, big ones like kroger food company could give powerhouse safeway a little bit of competition. but smaller specialty stores are looking to inch in on the bay area grocery market as well. we're talking about stores like fresh n easy, which is opening seven stores in the east and south bay. sprouts farmer's market which is opening and henry's farmer's market which is coming to the table for the first time in the bay area as well. if you are not familiar, these are smaller stores which aim to offer consumers a little bit of choice in addition to their groceries. excuse me. according to the food marketing

institute, which is a grocery trade group, it is a $557 billion game. we talked with a shopper who also works in the grocery industry this morning and he says he's looking forward to the competition. >> that would mean more options. they would be able to price check different places, going to a better and more convenient place. and i think that it would be really good for everybody that's kind of doing bad right now, you know? >> reporter: now, it won't be easy for the new folks who are coming to the grocery game. just in the last couple of months, we've seen pw markets in the south bay close 7 of their 11 stores. they say it's really competition from the big box stores that aren't used to carrying groceries like walmart and target and even the dollar stores that are offering more groceries as well. they say that competition is going to be tough, but we'll have to wait and see what this means for consumers. likely, though, a price war will be a good thing for those of us

who shop. in santa clara, kris sanchez, nbc bay area news. >> and we all do and in these days, we all need to save a little money. sunnyvale fire investigators hope you might recognize a firebug who's getting more daring and more dangerous. they released this sketch of a man who they say has set 15 fires since may. they believe he's around 20 years old. many of the fires burned near south fair oaks avenue, old san francisco road, and grand fir and garland avenues. the arsonist has torched mostly dumpsters, that is, until last week. that's when he set a car on fire with someone sleeping inside of it. that person, fortunately, was not hurt. if you have any information, please call the sunnyvale police department. 6:07 right now. an east bay 13-year-old is recovering in the hospital after a hazing accident at the hands of his schoolmates. on friday, before home coming, senior students at albany high school drive by freshman walking home and pelt them with eggs. school leaders say the egging amounts to serious bullying.

friday night, police responded the five incidents. the most serious involved a 13-year-old boy who ended up with a skull fracture after eggers stopped throwing eggs and they started throwing punches. the 17-year-old believed to be responsible was arrested. he now faces felony battery charges. >> i don't think it was cool. that's not what it's about. it's like throwing eggs, not physically assaulting. >> we all know this is a tradition, this hazing thing with the eggs and this has just gone too far. >> the school principal says the students involved will be suspended or expelled. the american red cross is hoping you'll roll up your sleeves this morning and show some support for the fremont police officer shot in the line of duty. a blood drive in honor of fremont officer todd young will start at their oakland office on claremont avenue in oakland at 11:00 this morning. it's one of several that have been held across the bay area, since the august 27th shooting. also, yesterday, more than 70 officers flooded the courtroom where andrew barrientos was formally charged with shooting young.

he faces ten felony charges, including carjacking and attempted murder, but did not enter a plea. 6:08 right now. a backup starting to form on a much-used -- >> the upper deck. very much used portion of our commute right here. the westbound direction, just past treasure island. it's having trouble clearing from the bridge because the transmission is busted. they're actually having to push it off and turn those gears. from what i understand, there's fluid as well. the two right lanes are blocked as you're heading towards san francisco, causing a backup coming into the treasure island tunnel. those metering lights not yet turned on. let's look at the bay bridge toll plaza, just a mild backup for the cash lanes with, but most of the folks are heading to the toll plaza right now, we'll probably see those metering lights turn on a little bit earlier. and another big problem, westbound 580 airway, still blocking that lane, still have that fuel spill. we're looking at 7:00 a.m. until they can clear that lane. look at that huge backup. no good alternate there. >> i don't think we ever want to

be in the red. >> complicating matters with traffic is the moisture on the road. coming down mist, and even a little bit of rain, rob tell us. >> enough we saw this morning around the golden gate bridge and 880, enough to wet the roads at times. and when we come out of summer and see the dry roads all summer long, mixes with some oil, can get a little slippery out there. 50s and 60s right now, and for the afternoon, we'll see about the same temperatures. good, strong sea breeze out there this morning. and yes, some drizzle in spots for your morning drive. we'll see highs, mostly 50s and 60s. some 70s inland. but as we head towards the weekend, that's when temperatures will start to climb on up. past your air quality forecast, which is just fine today, if you're heading to the sierra, look out for some rain around truckee and snow above 8,000 feet today. so drizzle to get your day started. a cool, breezy finish. you can wear a jacket all day long today, but it's back to t-shirt weather as we head back towards the weekend as 70s and 80s return for inland valleys starting friday. back to you. >> thanks, rob. 6:10 right now. investigators try to figure out who's to blame for a bomb

threat that landed a plane early in california. and new information just into newsroom on the worst environment staal disaster in o nation's history. see who bp is blaming for it. and what in the world is a guy or girl have to do to get on a soccer team? well, apparently sit in a very long line overnight. we'll tell you what cal students are doing, what lengths they're going to to play theirspt. have tt co f sport. have that coming up in live report. [ female announcer ] we know jerry brown was mayor of oakland,

but what were the results? fact: brown promised to improve schools. but the drop out rate increased 50%, and the state had to take over the schools. fact: the city controller found employees paid for 22,000 hours... they never worked. fact: brown promised to cut crime. but murders doubled, making oakland the 4th most dangerous city in america. jerry brown. he just can't deliver the results california needs now.

6:13 is the time. thanks for making nbc bay area news part of your morning on this wednesday as we look out live over san jose. a couple things you got to know. a little cool out there and a little moisture on the roads, so if you're on your way to work, please drive carefully. new this morning, beginning our first look at bp's official report on its massive gulf oil spill. here's a live look at the

ruptured undersea well. bp says it shares the blame for the explosion on the deepwater horizon rig that started the worst oil spill in u.s. history. the internal report is based on four months of research. bp says several companies and work teams contributed to the spill. it says there were a series of mechanical failures, including a malfunction by the rig's fire and gas system and misinterpretation of a pressure test by bp and transocean. this morning, fires that swept through at least two dozen homes across several blocks in detroit appear to finally be out. >> hurricane-force winds fanned the flames yesterday. fire crews say the wind knocked down dead tree limbs on to power lines, and that is what sparked the flames. at least 113,000 houses don't have power right now. still, at this hour, no one has been reported hurt by these fires. this morning, more than 3,000 people were forced out of

their hopeless adds out-of-control wildfires ripped through canyons near boulder, colorado. firefighters say so far, nearly 100 buildings have been destroyed by the flames. the governor declared a state of emergency yesterday as the fire's estimated size grew to more than 7,000 acres. fire officials are looking into reports that the fire started when a car crashed into a propane tank. they're also trying to figure out why an automated phone alert system failed for two hours during the evacuation. we're going to check in with nbc's miguel almaguer live in colorado in the next half hour. 6:15 right now. sports are competitive at cal, we know that. even intermurals. joining intermural sports teams at uc berkeley is actually so popular, students are camping out overnight. >> nbc bay area's bob redell is live on campus where dozens of students are in line, trying to make the roster. bob? >> reporter: well, this is probably unusual to see this many athletes sitting around, basically doing nothing, catching some zs, hanging out with their friends, but this is what they have to do. they have to wait in this line, that you can see, extends the

length of this building. there's probably, by my rough estimate, probably 100 cal students out here, maybe a little bit more. some out since yesterday afternoon. and this is what they must do if they want to play soccer, intermural soccer. that gives you an idea of what the demand is like. it's first-come, first-served. there's a limited amount of spots. the doors here at the rec center facility open at 7:00 a.m. talking to this guy earlier, this is your third semester coming out here, waiting in the line. and this pretty normal length, or has it gotten longer or shorter over the years? >> pretty normal. >> reporter: everyone must really want to play pretty badly, which makes me wonder when you're out there playing on the field, you've got these die-hard people, what's the competition like? >> i don't know, the competition varies. a lot of people are out there just to have fun. >> reporter: what i was getting at, though, this isn't the lazy crowd. if you're willing to wait in line since -- how long have you been out here? >> since yesterday around 4:00.

>> reporter: so you're pretty competitive? >> i would say so. i played when i was younger for 11 years, i like soccer a lot. >> reporter: do we know why there's such a limited number of spots? >> we only have a certain amount of time to have games, so there's only a certain number of teams they can have. >> reporter: good luck, man. it's almost over. 45 minutes left before the doors open. and perhaps we'll see the same thing tomorrow when they have the signups for basketball, on friday, the rest of the sports. this is what it takes to get into intermurals here at cal. brent and garvin -- or garvin and laura. >> hey! >> reporter: your voice sounded an octave lower to me. scott mcgrew joins us now. he says the connecticut attorney general wants to know if craigslist's action shutting down its adult section are for real. >> that's right. over the weekend, craigslist made a lot of news by putting that bar over the adult section, the black bar said censored, preventing access to the adult services ad. the connecticut attorney general, richard blumenthal,

takes credit for the action. but know he wants to know if it's for real. sending a letter to craigslist, asking the company to publicly promise the shutdown is permanent. now, craigslist is not saying why it cut off access to adult ads. i did sit down with craigslist ceo jim buckmaster for a whole half hour on television when this controversy first broke out, some months ago, talking about craigslist responsibilities. buckmaster said craigslist doesn't particularly want naughty ads, but by creating a special section, the website's able to keep those ads separate, which is probably what conan o'brien was thinking when he posted this tweet. he says, "craigslist has shut down their adult services section. looks like the used futon for sale ads are about to get a lot more interesting." and in fact, that's exactly what craigslist is trying to prevent, or was trying to prevent. >> and you can see maybe where the attorney general is coming from. they didn't remove the site. they put the censored bar up. they didn't remove it, exactly. >> yes.

in other countries, you can still access it, but not in the united states. and certainly, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what was being sold there. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> right, exactly. >> scott, thank you very much. >> thank you. this morning the fbi is investigating a bomb threat aboard a plane in los angeles. the pilot of a thai airways flight landed at l.a.x. after a bomb threat was spotted written on one of the plane's bathroom mirrors. the plane landed safely at around 9:00 last night and was taken to a remote part of the airport for inspection. the president of the airline says the message was written in english with bad grammar. overnight, officers screened onboard luggage and interviewed passengers and crew members. there were about 200 people on board that plane. this morning, health insurance company pacific care faces $9.9 billion in fines from state regulators. the "l.a. times" reports the california department of insurance accuses the company of violating state law over 1 million times between 2006 and 2008. charges against pacific care

include mishandling claims and losing patient documents. an oakland judge will decide whether or not to recommend the penalties. pacific care and its parent company, united health group, deny the allegations. this morning, staff at seaworld in san diego are mourning the death of one of their killer whales. you can see suemar, a 12-year-old killer whale, in this video. he started showing signs of sickness and was moved to the medical tank yesterday afternoon. the staff tried to nurse the 5,000-pound whale back to health, but he died about an hour later. marine biologists are now investigating why the animal got sick. this morning, rodney king is back in the headlines. but this time, it's on a good note. he's getting married, believe it or not, to one of the jurors from his civil case. according to radaronline, juror number five is ready to take his hand in marriage. king met cynthia kelly years ago after the jury awarded him millions of dollars in a civil suit against the city of los angeles. king says four months ago he

called kelly on a whim and the romance began. king made national news after a video camera caught los angeles police beating him back in 1991. >> interesting. 6:20 is the time. let's get back to mike. there's been a traffic bottleneck, bad spot on 580 in livermore all morning. >> all morning. since a quarter to 4:00. so as we were getting to work, this was getting in action. in fact, one of our colleagues, lou, called it in. westbound 580, a big rig spilled fuel. it first rubbed the shoulder for about 1,000 feet and crossed over all lanes in front of him and other cars and that's what caused the problem now. the fuel leak still expected to be cleared about 7:00 a.m. huge problems coming out of the altamont pass. one alternate, call ahead and tell folks you're going to telecommute or don't leave until 7:30 when things should start to

move a little bit better in the area. but over to these stations, the ace train would be your option if you're heading south. another problem, this for people crossing over from the east bay over to san francisco, disabled bus still being cleared from the roadway. once they do, they'll clear at fulsome. that off-ramp will be closed because of that disabled bus. so two right lanes are blocked, causing a big slowdown. and those metering lights have been turned on early as a result. the backup now at the toll plaza, let's take a look at that and see how things are building up. look at that quickly. no problems as far as the approach, but this is about the time we see more traffic heading to the maze. more people hear about this, heading south on 880, more traffic across the coliseum. all the headlights through the drizzle and wet roads. an alternate to the bay bridge. more folks, look at those taillights heading westbound. a steady flow right now, but congestion coming out of san leandro. head over to those bridges if

that is your destination, especially that san mateo bridge. going to get crowded today. and rob has a word on the roadways. >> thanks, mike. sights set south. the biger tdownennshe plasuin. 49ers down the peninsula. t

as governor, he cut waste got rid of the mansion and the limo budgets were balanced. $4 billion in tax cuts. world class schools and universities. clean energy promoted. 1.9 million new jobs created. california was working. i'm jerry brown. california needs major changes. we have to live within our means; we have to return power and decision making to the local level-closer to the people and no new taxes without voter approval. jerry brown the knowledge and know-how to get california working again.

welcome back. 6:25 right now. we're in san jose. you can wear the jacket for the morning and for the afternoon. our afternoon temperatures, likely not getting out of the 60s for the santa clara valley. near 60 right now in oakland, where the mist is flying around 880 this morning, and around the golden gate bridge, windshield wipers a requirement of your morning drive. we have 55 degrees, west wind at 15. some light rain around san francisco this morning. more substantial rain and maybe even know for areas north of lake tahoe today at close to 8,000 feet. this trough moving through. the reason why today's highs are going to be quite cool with that all-day sea breeze and some morning drizzle, 67 today, san jose. close to 60, san francisco. mid-60s in oakland, but this

cooldown is not going to stick around a whole lot, as you'll see here in the seven-day forecast. for the weekend, we warm up again inland. 70s and 80s, inland return just in time for the weekend. back o you. >> thank you very much, rob. santa clara city leaders will decide today whether to approve the design of a new 49ers stadium in the south bay. the state of the art plan includes 20,000 square feet of solar panels, luxury suites that open up to grass-covered rooftops. there's even talk of 3-d television and a way to order snacks and drinks from the seats using touch screens. city leaders will also weigh in on new zoning measures that would put the stadium in an entertainment zone that would include a golf club, convention center, and hotels. now, you remember these renderings of the proposed san jo jose as ballpark. now they are official. lou wolf has announced they have hired the firm 360 architecture to design two downtown stadiums. cisco field for the as and also a new stadium for the

earthquakes. wolf owns both of those teams. 360 architecture has designed several ballparks, including the stadium shared by the new york jets and the new york giants. now, it is important to note, neither team is officially saying it is moving to san jose. time is now 6:27. up and at 'em as the president pushing his plan to create jobs. we've got a revealing new look at just how many americans enjoy what they do for a living. plus, fanning the flames. more and more people cry out against a planned burning of the koran. hear what the white house is saying about the protests this morning. and an end in sight to those furlough fridays. we'll tell you about the big case in front of the state supreme court today.

he ellen, what are you doing? just brewing up some dunkin' donuts coffee -- want some? [ whoosh! ] i'd love some. one taste, and you'll understand.

delicious dunkin' donuts coffee. pick some up where you buy groceries. america runs on dunkin'. a late-night vote saves three schools in contra costra county. coming up, we'll tell you where the money might come from and why one council member has some concerns about the whole thing. that story, straight ahead.

plus, new details just out this morning on the worst environmental disaster in our nation's history. we'll show you who bp says is to blame. and an early on for the metering lights at the bay bridge causes ripple effects around the bay as i follow yet another cig alert, also in the east bay. i'll show you what to avoid and where to go, coming up. good morning. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm garvin thomas, in for brent cannon. rob's got a look at today's cool forecast. and by cool, i mean, not warm. >> november-like outside. right now, our main concern this morning, drizzle, which is enough to wet the roads in spots. mike's keeping an eye on that right now. 63 in san jose. notice, hour by hour, temperatures not warming up at all today. 67, san jose. 59, san francisco. 64 in oakland. so jacket weather today, but what about the weekend? we're seeing some changes with

your weekend forecast. we'll look at that in a few minutes. back to you. >> thank you very much, rob. new this morning, thousands of east bay students won't have to shuffle to new schools. overnight, richmond city council members voted to keep three schools open. nbc bay area's christie smith is live in richmond this morning with more on the much-anticipated vote. christie? >> reporter: good morning. well, it was totally unanimous. the richmond city council voted to kick in $1.5 million to keep three schools open. this is what parents came out for, this is what they wanted. but at least one city council member raised a red flag about this, saying that we've been here in this position before. that the school district, in his opinion, has been financially irresponsible and goes stto the city like an atm when there's any sort of problem. this is the second time the council was asked to donate money to keep schools open. in the end, though, it was a very emotional night. there was concern that moving kennedy's at least 1,000 high

school students to other schools could spark street-level violence, so the city ultimately came to the rescue. board member charles ramsey told us this morning of the state cuts $39 million from the school, so their back was against the wall, but they know they still need a permanent fix. >> and we'll go to the state and we'll go to our trustee and we'll really sit down and talk about a long-term strategy to make sure this painful process doesn't happen again for this school. >> reporter: now, the two other schools are olinda and grant elementary. they will stay open as well. the city recently settled $114 million lawsuit with chevron over utility taxes, so one theory is that perhaps some of the money to keep the schools open could come from there. and this all applies to the school year of fall 2011. reporting live in richmond, christie smith, nbc bay area news. >> thank you for the latest, christie. your ability to get state services five days a week is now in the hands of the state supreme court. it will decide the future of

furlough fridays. governor schwarzenegger calls the furloughs a necessary evil in the current budget crisis. state workers say they're being used in a political fight to pressure the legislature to act. the justices will have 90 days to publish their decision. if state employees win the case, they could get backpay for all the furlough days since february 2009. 6:33 this morning. new this morning, a deadly attack on american soldiers in iraq. it happened about 100 miles north of baghdad at an iraqi military base. a gunman opened fire, killing two american soldiers, wounding nine. they were not in a combat role at the time. that role is technically over for u.s. troops. the obama administration declared combat operations officially over last week. but there has been some fighting in and around the capital city in which american forces have participated. we don't yet know the identity of the soldiers or where they're from here in the u.s. new this morning, could a pastor's plan to burn the koran

put u.s. troops in danger? one of the president's top advisers is weighing in on the "today" show. the government is turning the pressure on a small florida church that plans to burn copies of the islamic holy book on september 11th. the top u.s. commander in afghanistan, general david petraeus, says burning the koran would be used by extremists to put u.s. troops in danger. on the "today" show, david axelrod seconds the general's words, adding that burning the koran would be a, quote, propaganda bonanza for terrorists. >> the question isn't whether they have a right to do it. they may have a right to do it. the question is whether it's right. this not only -- this offends our values, but not only that, it offends -- it threatens our security. >> you can catch the rest of that interview as well as an interview with one of america's leading generals coming up next on the "today" show. 6:34 right now. all the controversy in florida has eclipsed the debate over the islamic community center in

lower manhattan. scott mcgrew updates us on that. >> good morning, laura. all this time, through all the controversy both real and invented over that center, we've not heard a lot from the man at the center of the center, the imam. imam feisal abdul rauf wrote an op-ed piece for "the new york times" saying he understands and is sensitive to the strong feelings about the center, called park 51, and that the center would have space for worship for many faiths, including christians and jews. rauf says protecting the center's right to exist, quote, seriously undermines the ability of anti-american radicals to recruit young, impressionable muslims by falsely claiming that america persecutes muslims for their faith. laura? >> thank you very much, scott. well, new this morning, it's not just the oil that's spreading in the gulf coast, it's also the blame. in a report just released, bp says they're not the only ones to blame for the worst man-made environmental disaster in our nation's history.

nbc bay area's tracie potts is live in washington with reaction to the internal investigation. good morning, tracie? >> reporter: laura, good morning. we just got this report from bp a couple of hours ago. after four months of investigation with 50 specialists both inside and outside the company, the company says we are not the only ones to blame. that there was no single factors, as they put it, that led to this well blowout and this huge oil spill. they said that it was a sequence of failures and they detailed some of them in this report. several components of the well that failed, the outgoing ceo tony hayward says it was a bad cement job at the bottom of the well. they talk about bad pressure test results that were accepted, both by bp and the owner of the rig, transocean. a slow response team, 40-minute wait after that blowout started to happen, operational failures detailed in this 200-page report. interestingly, bp says it was unlikely that the design of the well contributed to this

disaster. that something that was discussed that the company was accused of here on capitol hill during congressional hearings. bp is making 25 recommendations, saying they hope that these recommendations hope the oil industry as a whole. laura? >> thanks so much, tracie, for the update there. well, governor schwarzenegger will tour a south bay semiconductor company this morning ahead of his trip to asia later this week. he'll talk this morning later at marvel semiconductor in santa clara before visiting the company's shanghai location. he leaves tomorrow on a trade mission to promote california products. the governor says the trip could lock up billions of dollars in business for the state. the trip will last six days and will take the governor to china, japan, and south korea. time is now 6:37. time to get a check on a busy commute with mike, including ongoing problem on the upper deck. >> that's right. we had a fuel spill. actually, not a fuel spill, it's a spill of transmission fluid. the cleanup is going on right now on that upper deck, blocking a couple of your right lanes. the fulsom street exit is also closed off at the upper deck

because of a bus, because of transmission troubles, had to get pushed off to the commit. the metering lights were turned on early. live look at the toll plaza shows you the repercussions. an early backup off the 880 overcrossing, all the way across the bend, into the maze, now down the berkeley curve as well. this is sending some folks south towards the san mateo bridge. let me show you another big issue for the east bay. 580 westbound, still jammed up coming out of the altamont pass. almost an hour now coming out of the altamont pass, passing through livermore because of this cig alert still going on. another cleanup, a fuel spill after an accident, airway boulevard has one lane blocked. expected to clear in the next 20 minutes, but so far this is not going to cause any assistance for the backup. this is huge. another 45 minutes to an hour before we see any flow of traffic. ace train number five is one option to get to the vasco, livermore, or pleasanton stations. that will take you out of the area. those trains coming through around 7:30. but plan your ride to the south as well if you are heading south. if you're driving south through

sunol and you can get on to 680, great news for you, you're reaping benefit for all those folks held up. a lighter volume of traffic down through 680. and mild flowing for highway 87 and 101 northbound. your typical drives and slowdowns coming into and past downtown san jose. back to you guys. >> thanks, mike. >> want to check the forecast with rob. certainly a little cooler out there. >> cooler and we have some measurable rain in parts of the bay area this morning. san jose looking more like seattle in september. 63 right now, mostly cloudy skies. look at san francisco. we've got drizzle falling, 6/100 of an inch of rain has fallen this morning. most of the action off to the east. the main effect of this system is going to lead to a cool afternoon, partly cloudy, breezy with highs only 67, san jose. mid-60s oakland, and close to 60 in san francisco. now, once we get past today and tomorrow, the weekend does look warmer. 70s and 80s inland and we'll hang on to 60s along the coast. back to you. >> rob, thank you very much. 6:39 is the time. google continues to tease its users this morning. we've got some clues about what

its home page logo change may mean. >> plus, dozens of buildings burned to the ground and thousands of people forced out of their homes. the fire in the foothills west of denver rages on this morning. we'll get a live report on the firefighters' plan of attack today. and i'm kris sanchez in santa clara with the story that could mean savings for you if the biggest grocery store in town gets a little competition. and friends and family will gather today to remember the life of a man who reported on the daily beat of bay area life for 50 years. cavalry presbyterian church in san francisco will host a memorial service for david maccelhadden at 11:00. he was one of the bay area's most recognizable faces on tv at kpix. our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and coworkers. [ female announcer ] we know jerry brown was mayor of oakland,

but what were the results? fact: brown promised to improve schools. but the drop out rate increased 50%, and the state had to take over the schools. fact: the city controller found employees paid for 22,000 hours... they never worked. fact: brown promised to cut crime. but murders doubled, making oakland the 4th most dangerous city in america. jerry brown. he just can't deliver the results california needs now.

right now parts of colorado are under a state of emergency as a wildfire rips through canyons near the city of boulder. so far 92 buildings have been destroyed by the fire and over 3,000 people forced from their homes. nbc bay area's miguel almaguer is live in boulder, colorado, this morning. miguel, the reports we're hearing are that the fire started when a car crashed into a propane tank. >> reporter: yeah, garvin, good morning. that is certainly one of the avenues that investigators are looking into. they certainly have not declared that as the cause of this incident, but they are looking

into that report. there was some radio chatter just before the time this fire actually kicked off, and that is certainly a possibility. this fire is described as both volatile and very dangerous. it is still rapidly burning, burning out of control and unchecked. there is no containment. 92 buildings, or 92 structures have been completely destroyed. among those, nine homes that belong to volunteer firefighters. this fire is fueled by bone-dry brush and steep terrain. it's consumed some 7,100 acres. that number is likely to certainly increase as we have first daylight here, and firefighters get up in the air and able to look at an aerial look at the burn zone. the governor declared a state of emergency yesterday. 1,000 people have been evacuated. more evacuation orders could come. this fire is still marching towards some homes. that's where those additional numbers could come from. evacuees could be forced out for at least two more days. that could last much longer. containment on this fire could take weeks. roughly an 11-mile square patch

of land has been burned. but again, as we first daylight here, that number too will also likely increase. garvin, back to you. >> miguel, thank you very much for that report. 6:44 right now. this morning, president obama travels to ohio to announce his plans to stimulate the sagging economy. yesterday he pitched $50 billion for transportation projects to create jobs and today he's expected to draw a line in the sand with republicans over tax breaks. but analysts say the speech is as much about rescuing democrats' midterm elections as it is about rescuing the economy. the president will take on a pointed attack by minority leader john boehner, who claims the administration botched the recovery. as the president hits the road to sell his economic recovery plan, many people are questioning their job outlook and financial future. a new study shows 64% of american workers doubt they'll ever be able to retire.

46% have had wages reduced and 44% are concerned about losing their jobs. on the other hand, 80% of american workers report being satisfied with their jobs, and 72% say they look forward to work. the latest grocery battle isn't between paper and plastic. it's about small businesses taking aim at corporate supermarkets. nbc bay area's kris sanchez is live in santa clara where a potential price war could turn into a food fight. and kris, we win, right? >> reporter: if it does, in fact, turn into a food fight, yes, we the consumers, we actually do win. because more competition usually means better pricing. we are here at one of the grocery powerhouses in the bay area. that is safeway, one of the big dogs in town, so to speak. now, while their prices are fair, competition would serve to drive those prices down farther. according to the "contra costa times," new stores like kroger and food co. could give safeway a run for its money. those are two big stores. but also likely to nip at the heels of the top dogs, smaller

specialty stores. they want in. stores like fresh n easy, which is opening seven stores in the east and south bay. sprouts farmer's market, which is planning a store in dublin, and henry's farmer's market which is coming to the bay area for the very first time. these are smaller stores that could offer semester greater choice not just in terms of food stufs, but in terms of pricing as well. according to the food marketing institute, which is a trade group, they estimate it is a $557 game. we talked with a shopper this morning who also works in the grocery industry this morning, and he says he's looking forward to the competition. >> that would mean more options. they would be able to price check different places, going to a better and more convenient place. and i think it would be really good for everybody that's kind of doing bad right now, you know? >> reporter: now, there is a lot of money at stake here, but it is worth watching for us, the consumers, because the fallout

could go any number of ways. pw markets recently closed 7 of their 11 stores, citing fierce competition from nontraditional grocery places to buy, such as walmart or target. so there are groceries cropping up in unexpected places and that means more competition. maybe, hopefully, it will pay off for us in the end. kris sanchez, nbc bay area news. >> thanks, kris. want to check in with scott right now. the guys at google have gone maybe too far. those bouncing balls making people crazy. >> so they've actually changed it. now if you take a look at goggle, it's plain white, until, anyway, you start typing, and then the colors fill in. google does have reporters moving in san francisco, so we can find out more. >> were you searching me? >> i was. your third most likely hit is laura garcia-cannon pregnant. >> oh, really? well, i'm not right now. >> i think the unusual google logos are pushing people to update their browser. if you have an older browser, you will not be able to see any

of this today. oracle this morning says it wants to say former hp ceo mark hurd nearly $1 million a year to be the company's co-president. that salary -- that is salary only. hurd would also be eligible, laura, for $5 million in bonus, not to exceed $10 million. of course, yesterday hp filed suit to stop hurd from taking the job at all. but you know you are really good when they start talking about how big your bonus is going to be and you don't yet work at the company. nobody's ever discussed that with me ahead of a job. >> exactly. >> i was typing in mike's name to see what came up. >> what came up? >> nothing. no suggestions. >> delete those pictures, whatever they are. a lot of that happened in high school and college. anyway. we're looking over here, you guys. this is also old news. no lanes blocked now. just reported as getting cleared. that's good news, all lanes clear, westbound 580 airway boulevard. all these folks very happy. look at the backup coming out of

the altamont pass, registering over an hour coming out of the pass, coming past through livermore, and basically take answer hour to get past airway boulevard. this should start to move a little better, but you're not going to see any major improvements for at least 40 minutes as you're coming through in area. this is when the bulk of the morning commute happens. that's great news, because the rest of the east bay, they're reaping the rewards of all those folks held up there. the early backup at the toll plaza, the live shot shows you how bad it is. they're still cleaning the transmission fluid on the upper deck after a stalled bus was the source of that. that has one lane blocked heading into the city, causing the meter lights to slow down here. so additional slowing coming out of berkeley and emeryville, heading over the water there. the san mateo bridge, that's going to see more traffic because of all those issues on the east bay as well and the bay bridge. expect for traffic southbound 80 approaching the area. rob, we've seen the mist and drizzle all morning. how long's that going to hang around? >> 60 right now, drizzle flying around the peninsula.

63 right now in san jose. now, what's triggering this is a weather system that's going to bring perhaps a little bit of snow across the sierra and lifting that low-level moisture and wringing out some drizzle and even some light rain on the coast. today's highs, if you want to call them that, 67, san jose. 60, san francisco. 60s to low 70s across the north bay. but as we pass today and tomorrow, the weekend, we start to warm up. 70s and 80s inland. getting started as we approach this upcoming weekend. back to you. >> thanks so much. well, the giants get back at it tonight. what's ahead in their quest for that division title. you think you're a die-hard sports fan? really? would you wait all night in line to play your favorite game? meet some of the most atwe-hes, in thk, her es, ate thk, here in the bay area coming up in a live report.

as governor, he cut waste got rid of the mansion and the limo

budgets were balanced. $4 billion in tax cuts. world class schools and universities. clean energy promoted. 1.9 million new jobs created. california was working. i'm jerry brown. california needs major changes. we have to live within our means; we have to return power and decision making to the local level-closer to the people and no new taxes without voter approval. jerry brown the knowledge and know-how to get california working again.

the clock is ticking for hundreds of students staying up all night at cal berkeley, but they're not staying up for a social event or studying for a test, they just want to have fun. bob redell is live on campus. i guess we should say, they want some organized fun. >> reporter: do you think the jones brothers gets this kind of turnout? tickets for the jones brothers. there's probably just over 1 hurricane c100 cal students out here. every semester, this is a ritual, if you want to sign up for intermural soccer. just soccer. tomorrow is basketball. because there's a limited number of spots, and people who really, really want to play, they line up early. some since yesterday. what time did you guys get out here or what time did your group get out here yesterday? >> around 1. >> reporter: yesterday afternoon? and you're pretty aggressive to get a spot on the team. my question is, when you're out there on the field, are you just

as aggressive? >> more so. >> reporter: you don't have the lazy people here. just the die-hard -- >> yeah, the signouts weed out the teams that don't really want to play. so if you want to play, you show up early. >> reporter: and it's worth it for you? >> yeah, totally. >> reporter: and you're still going to make class? >> uh -- >> reporter: i wouldn't make class if i wasn't waiting in class the night before. >> i don't have class until 7:00 a.m., so i should be okay. >> reporter: two different soccer team there is. doors will open in about five minutes to get in there and get those limited amount of spots. tomorrow you'll see the same thing, except these will probably be a little bit taller people, those will be the basketball players and friday is the rest of the sports. >> something tells me there are not a lot of casual games of flag football. >> pretty dedicated. >> thanks, bob. well, the giants are back in arizona tonight. the game against the diamondbacks starts just after 6:30. tim lincecum was on the mound last night and his troubles from last month seemed to be far

behind him. he struck out 11 diamondbacks, gave up just five hits. freddy sanchez kept up his hot hitting. his home run for the giants gave them a 4-0 lead. giants went on to win it, 6-3. they remain one game out of the race and now just one game out of the wild card. >> rob was just pointing out, that guy made an amazing catch out there. >> that was amazing. >> speaking of catches, catching an asteroid? >> not with a hat. don't try that at home. >> this is actually pretty interesting. by astronomical standards, this is a near miss. we have a couple of asteroids, actually, anytime they pass between us and the orbit of the moon, that is technically considered a close call. you can see the moon about 238,000 miles away from the earth and incoming later today at about 49,000 miles away from the earth, we have an asteroid about the size, 20 feet wide, passing by, missing tethhe eart kind of a close call.

would not use a hat to catch that thing. >> and the great they think about the asteroid missing us, we get to start the nfl season tomorrow. we don't miss a single football game. >> and you can catch the nfl season opener right here tomorrow night. vikings take on the new orleans saints and our coverage is going to start at 4:30. football fun. >> all right. it all begins. thanks for joining us. >> get out your wings, laura. >> bring it. >> thanks for joining us this morning. the "today" show is up next. >> local news update every half hour after that. have a great morning! twizzlers. the twist you can't resist.

i thought it was over here... ♪ [car horn honks] our outback always gets us there... ... sometimes it just takes us a little longer to get back. ♪ but what were the results? fact: brown promised to improve schools. but the drop out rate increased 50%, and the state had to take over the schools. fact: the city controller found employees paid for 22,000 hours... they never worked. fact: brown promised to cut crime. but murders doubled, making oakland the 4th most dangerous city in america. jerry brown. he just can't deliver the results california needs now.